Sarah Kaufman’s most recent attempt to get back to work — and to return to her natural weight class of bantamweight — has fallen through.
Kaufman announced Friday that her planned title fight at PAWFC 1 on Saturday was, unfortunately, off. PAWFC — Pallas Athena Women’s Fighting Championship — launches their inaugural event on January 15 at the Grey Eagle Events Centre in Calgary, Alberta.
Kaufman (22-5, 1NC) was expected to headline the show against Brazil’s Cláudia Leite, with the women’s bantamweight title on the line. However, the Canadian fighter revealed that Leite was unable to obtain a visa, and could not travel to Canada for the fight.
“I found out yesterday upon arrival that my opponent couldn’t make it from Brazil. She didn’t get her visa and passport stuff organized in time, and didn’t get on the flight,” Kaufman said in a video posted to her official social media channels.
“While you know that the fight game changes a lot, with people getting sick and all these other changes in the world, this is not what I expected, but what do you do? You kind of take it as a learning experience, keep moving forward. We keep the goal the same, which is to be the best in the world at 135. This is one more roadblock that we’ve hit.”
Kaufman went on to thank her fans for supporting her.
Fight is off. I’m gutted but it’s the fight game. @PallasathenaWFC is honouring the contract, so slight positive to take away. Onwards and upwards pic.twitter.com/pou5RZzeq2
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) January 14, 2022
On the plus side, PAWFC will still pay Kaufman, she revealed.
A former Strikeforce and Invicta FC champion, Sarah Kaufman last competed in November at BTC 13, picking up a win against Jessy Miele. That bout, at featherweight, was the Canadian’s first fight in over two years. In an interview with Cageside Press ahead of the bout, the B.C. native admitted that had she not been able to fight by the end of 2021, she would have considered retirement.
